POLICE RETIREE'S WIFE DIES IN CRASH

Police have identified a former Avon resident as the victim of an accident Monday on the Berlin Turnpike.

Police said Pearl Barnett, 67, of 2338 S.E. Holland Drive, Port St. Lucie, Fla., was killed when a gray minivan in which she was a passenger was hit by a pickup truck near the Wethersfield line.

Mrs. Barnett was pronounced dead at Hartford Hospital shortly after the 10 a.m. accident, police said. Her sister, Stella Maiuri, 76, of 121 Dowd Ave., Canton, was a passenger in the minivan. She was listed in critical but stable condition Tuesday at Hartford Hospital. Mrs. Barnett's niece, Lorraine Uecker, 54, of 240 High Road, in the Kensington section of Berlin, was driving. Uecker was in stable condition at Hartford Hospital.

Mrs. Barnett moved to Florida about a year ago. Her husband, Det. Stanley Barnett, retired from the Avon Police Department in July 1994. He had served in the department for 25 years, Avon police Capt. Paul Olson said.

"We all feel very badly. Our hearts go out to them," Olson said Tuesday. "This is not the kind of thing you expect to happen after you retire."

Mrs. Barnett's brother-in-law, Al Barnett, was an officer with the Newington Police Department for 20 years, retiring in 1980, police said.

Newington police said the accident occurred after the women left Lamp Fair at 2400 Berlin Turnpike and crossed three lanes of traffic to make a U-turn that is legal there. The minivan was hit by a pickup truck heading north toward Hartford. The truck's driver, Pietro Paruta, 54, of 65 Homestead Drive, Glastonbury, was treated for minor injuries at Hartford Hospital and later released, police said.

Newington police Sgt. William Darby said police are still investigating the accident and no charges have been filed. Police are inspecting the two vehicles for mechanical problems and interviewing witnesses, Darby said. Police Tuesday had not interviewed the two women who were with Mrs. Barnett because of their injuries, Darby said. The investigation is expected to take about two weeks, he said.

Monday's crash was the first fatal accident in more than a year on the Berlin Turnpike, also known as Routes 5 & 15, Darby said.